Needs AssessmentRoster and Pool &

OCHA Stand-by Partnerships

NATF Training on Coordinated Assessments

Revinge, Sweden

October 28, 2010

What is Surge Capacity?

Surge capacity can be defined as the ‘ability of an organization to rapidly and effectively increase [the sum of] its available resources in a specific geographic location’, in order to meet increased demand to stabilise or alleviate suffering in any given population.

People in Aid

Whole Organization Approach

• Surge entails more than quick dispatch of personnel

• Quantity and quality count• Work to be done before,

during, after crisis• WOA ‘trinity’ for good surge:

– resources (e.g. staff, money, equipment)

– mechanism (e.g. SoPs)– enabling factors (e.g. decision-

making, speed, flexibility, organizational mind-set, training

Why assessment expertise as part of Surge?

• Emergency assessments must be timely - agencies may not have adequate number of staff in situ to lead and participate in rapid assessments

• Qualified staff with assessment experience are required to supplement country team capacity to conduct quality assessments

• Push for a common approach to assessments (NATF): surge as a means of disseminating best practice / use of NATF guidance and tools in early onset disasters

What does the NATF propose?NATF Roster and Pool (NARP)

Objective Provide rapidly deployable assessment

surge capacity to OCHA and Clusters to support emergency inter-clusterassessments to inform humanitarian responses in a timely and predictable manner

Roster Composition

– Composed of external ‘free agents’ specialized in assessments

– Provided by ACAPS– Managed by Norwegian Refugee Council– Made available to the field through the existing

Stand-By Partner arrangements of OCHA and cluster lead agencies

– Trained in NATF tools and methodologies by ACAPS

– Future inclusion of other SBP organizations?

Pool Composition

– Composed of OCHA, cluster members (UN and NGOs)

– Deployed through OCHA / cluster own formal and informal surge mechanisms

– Financial resources to support deployment provided by own agencies / clusters

– Trained in NATF tools and methodologies by ACAPS

Governance of the NARP

• Inter-agency Steering Committee composed of WFP, WHO, OCHA, UNICEF, ACAPS, UNDP and NGO (TBD) – Key Responsibilities:

• Oversight of deployments (tracking number, etc.)• Review and endorsement of training program of

roster and pool members• Sets criteria for deployments (including

preparedness missions)• Reviews lessons learned

NARP Secretariat

• Housed within OCHA ACE team

• Organizes meetings of steering committee

• Liaises with Surge Capacity Sections of host / requesting agencies, and roster management

• Maintains list of roster / pool members

• Facilitation function as required for deployments

How do Surge and Stand-by Partnership Programs

work?OCHA Example

CRD / NY SCS, ESB Geneva

Surge Capacity SectionSurge Mechanisms Managed by SCS

• Emergency Response Roster (ERR)• Stand-By Partnership Programme (SBPP)

New Mechanisms:• Associates Surge Pool (ASP)• Roaming Emergency Surge Officers (RESO)

• Central coordination and advisory role on surge• Cross cutting activities (training, information

management, and marketing)

Who are our Stand-By Partners?

• Government Agencies• Non-Governmental

Organizations

that have signed an agreement (MoU) with OCHA on the provision of ‘gratis experts’ for temporary support to OCHA field and regional offices confronted with sudden emergencies and increases in workload. Two new MoUs were signed in 2010 with iMMAP and Qatar Charity.

When does OCHA needs SBPP support?

• Criteria for use of SBPP:– emergence of a new crisis/upsurge within an existing

crisis; and– need to accomplish specific tasks/bridge a critical

staffing gap of limited duration; and– in the event the need turns out to be for a longer

period, regular staffing measures are put in place before the end of the of the SBPP deployment

– SBPP use not allowed for ‘plannable’ activities for which budget exists;

Legal Considerations

• Legal basis: GA Resolutions and UN Administrative Instructions

• “Expert on Mission for the UN”• Even though the deployee is not considered as a

staff member or a UN Official, the deployee is FULLY integrated in the UN team in the area of deployment

• SBP or roster origin warmly recognized but not visible

• Reporting through regular management line

Key developments within OCHA SBPP

• Number of deployments in 2009 : 59 secondees deployed in 21 countries from 10 partners

• Average deployment lead time : 38 days

• Average duration of deployments : 4 months

SBPP Total secondments per year (2000 - end of November 2009)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

What can be the deployee profile?

• Humanitarian Affairs Officer (HAO)

• Field Coordinator• Reporting Officer• Public Information Officer

(PIO)• Information Management

Officer (IMO)• Civil Military Coordination

Officer (CMCoord)• Logistics Officer• Protection Officer

2009 Deployments by profile

28

6 6 64

32 2

1 1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

HAOPIO

CMCO

Reporti

ng o

fficer

IMO

Team

log

Prote

ction

offic

erGIS

Staff c

ounse

llor

Securit

y foca

l poin

t

Series2

2009 Deployments by Receiving Country

13

10

7

4

3 3 3

2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

Sudan

Afgha

nista

noP

t

Colombia

Philipp

ines

DRC

Pakist

anChad

Somali

a

Burkin

a Fas

o

Jord

an

Sri La

nka

CAR

Seneg

al

Mad

agasc

ar

Ethiopia

Mya

nmar

Yemen

Guinea

Kazakh

stan

Indo

nesia

Series2

2000-2009 Deployments by Agency

19%

10%

7%

3%

4%

5%2%

39%

11%

NRC

SIDA & SRSA

DFID

DRC

RedR

Austcare

Canadem

Irish aid

SDC